


for our understanding only

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 00:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6882658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If both you and your soulmate have turned 16, everything you write on your skin appears on theirs. But it is hard to communicate like that, when you both speak another language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for our understanding only

**Author's Note:**

> Despite finally having finished ToA, I will still write fanfiction ideas from when I hadn't read it. Because I can. And I'm a sucker for Soulmate AU's.  
> It's short but eh -shrug-

After having turned 16, Will Solace had immediately picked up a pen and started writing on his arm. "Hello! I'm Will," was the first thing to ever be written to his soulmate, but there was no reply. Though Will was disappointed, he assumed it was because his soulmate had not turned 16, yet. He hoped that was the case at least. He had also heard stories about people who never got a reply from their soulmate, simply because they didn't have one, they didn't want to meet their supposed soulmate and decide their own fate, or simply because their soulmate had died before being able to talk to their other half.

It took another three months before he noticed a small drip of ink on his arm, but no matter how badly he tried to scrub it off. It frustrated him, until he realized that it must mean that his soulmate had wanted to write to him. His face lit up and ran into his room, grabbing the same pen he had written with three months ago. "Hello, how are you? I'm Will!" He hoped he didn't sound to desperate and that his soulmate would be able to read his handwriting, despite it being very clear.

It took a few moments but Will got a reply. Just not the one he had expected. "vai a letto", the scribbled words looked like they were written by someone drunk. And he had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but according to Google it meant "go to bed", in Italian.

It was around dinner time for Will, but considering his soulmate probably lived in Italy, it wasn't too weird for his soulmate to tell him to go to sleep. Though, it also made him nervous; for Will didn't speak a single word Italian. Sure, he spoke a few words Spanish from school, but he didn't know anything else. The only thing he could hope for was that his soulmate at least spoke English, since -- well, it was the most widespread language.

His hopes were in vain. The following day he found out that his soulmate spoke as much English as Will could speak Spanish -- it was very basic. Will had started to write again, with a small "Hello". His soulmate had replied with a shaky "Inglese?", which Will presumed meant "English?". He was tempted to write "No, American", but he didn't know whether his soulmate was asking for his language or from what country he was.

"American," he wrote back, before quickly writing an 'o' behind it, hoping it was the same in Italian as it was in Spanish.

"ah.. Vengo dall’Italia. Il mio nome è Nico." Will stared at the words for a moment, not understanding what they said. He got the outline, that he was from Italy and that his name was Nico, so that was good. It didn't matter either, since the sentences got striked through and a slowly written "I'm Nico, I'm from Italy" took its place. It looked like Nico had tried really hard to remember the foreign words.

Will couldn't help but to smile brightly and wrote back, copying the words Nico had previously written on their arms. "Il mio nome è Will." Somehow, on the other side of the world, he knew his soulmate was also smiling.

\---

"Please, tell me you actually said more to each other than _that_." Kayla sat across from him, biting into a thin hamburger from the McDonald's. She put it down and stared at him. "He truly doesn't know English."

Will sighed and sipped his cola. "Not everyone speaks English, Kayla. Besides he also told me 'I come from Venice' and 'Bianca is my sister'." Admittedly, his English was very basic and he sometimes had a lot a spelling mistakes, Nico tried. He really wanted to talk to Will, else he would not try to learn another language for him. Will had also tried to learn Italian, but Nico has said that it was fine. Despite that, Will still spent an hour a day studying.

"Actually, I find it very cute that he's trying. It shows that he loves you."

"Kayla, we've known each other for a week now, it is impossible for him to love me."

She shrugged. "Whatever you say, but I'm telling you he really does care for you in such a way."

Will rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop himself from blushing slightly.

\---

In the following weeks Nico's English improved and Will became confident enough with his Italian that he tried small sentences. Even if they were completely flawed, Nico would support him, saying that he was doing great but that he should change a small thing. In the same way Will had helped Nico with English.

"I wanna ~~go~~ come to America," was written on his arm one morning. "To visit you." He could feel his heart flutter and he smiled gently.

"I'd love for you to come over :)," he replied back and wrote his address underneath. It took a while for Nico to reply and instead of something like "I've written it down", Nico replied something in Italian and Will understood what he meant.

"Dire ti amo è così difficile."

A blush made his way onto Will's features and he couldn't keep the butterfly's from flying through his stomach. "Ti amo," he wrote back. Nico didn't reply, and he didn't have to, Will knew he got it. 

He got what Kayla had meant to say. Some people had platonic soulmates, for some people it took ages to fall in love with their soulmate, if they already did. But some people knew it from the first words, and it the feeling only got stronger -- to the point you could no longer ignore the fact that your soulmate was truly the one and only for you. Will fell into the last category. It might seem silly, but even though they lived so far apart, he knew that their hearts were beating in sync.

He started to count down the days to when Nico would come over. Will didn't know what to expect; they had just talked about what they liked and their day, not about appearance. Of course he had painted a picture in his mind; a tall boy with olive skin and dark hair.

And then that faithful day of Nico's arrival came. Will stood behind the line, waiting to see his soulmate, but no one that came out of the plane fit the image he had painted in his head. To be fair, he should have probably made a sign that said 'Nico' so he could hold it up, but he was too excited and he had simply forgotten.

Slowly the people who had gotten off the plane found their family and friends, right after, they left. Will sighed and sat down on a bench next to another guy. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but the guy also seemed to be waiting for someone who had gotten off that plane from Venice. "Maybe they're taking longer with their baggage," Will said to him, in order to start a conversation, but the guy didn't really seem up to it, considering he just shook his head.

The guy was around his age, but smaller than Will, with dark eyes with even darker hair. His complexion was pale in a way that seemed like he never went out into the sun. His lips were a light pink color as he pursed them, seemingly upset. He seemed to be the exact opposite of Will, who was tall, tanned and had blonde hair. The only thing they seemed to have in common was the fact they both had freckles, though Will had them all over and very visible, the other had a few hard to spot ones around his nose.

"Waiting for a friend from Venice?" he tried again, the guy shook his head again. Great.

They sat there is silence for a while, as Will was slowly but certainly losing the hope that Nico would come. The other guy stood up and left, going into the bathroom. Will took that time to write to Nico. "Where are you?"

It took a minute for Nico to respond. "Airport. Where are you?"

"Airport."

It seemed like hours, but it was about two minutes before Nico wrote back. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, dork?"

"That's me."

Around that time the guy came out of the bathroom again, heading straight for Will. He stood still in front of Will so that he needed to look up at the other. Will was slightly surprised, but as he took the other in, he saw the words that were written on his arm. His conversation with Nico.

"Ni-" He couldn't finish his sentence before the other had leaned down and gently kissed him, as if they had all the time in the world, before pulling back slowly and smiling.

Will smiled back and everything was perfect. Nico might not match the way he had imagined him, but he was certainly not disappointed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Don't even talk to me about timezones man. 
> 
> vai a letto -- go to bed  
> Vengo dall’Italia. -- I'm from Italy.  
> Il mio nome è Nico. -- My name is Nico.  
> Dire ti amo è così difficile. -- Saying I love you is so hard.  
> Ti amo. -- I love you.


End file.
